CNTR Volume 2
by Fenrir7Silfur
Summary: Spurred on further with the mystery that is Sephiroth, Cloud and his team fight on for the end of the madman, to make the world safer. Amidst their search for clues, they get swept up into a grand scheme that threatens everything they ever knew. CloTi LeonHeartilly Tiduna More characters to come.
1. Just Another Day At Beacon

Volume 2: Chapter 1

It was just another day in Remnant. Stores bustling. Cars driving. Horns honking. Plenty of people going about their business without a care in the world.

Save for three. These three sat upon bikes atop a cliff, looking over the mako city, Midgar. The three men had silver hair and wore tight, black leather. One had a gauntlet. One a pistol or two. And the head had a katana.

They have come for vengeance on the planet.

CNTR:

VOLUME 2

THE WORLD WE NEVER KNEW

Lunch was all the same for Team CNTR. They sat at a table outside the lunchroom with Ignis and his culinary delights to feast on.

The meal of the day was Breaded Cutlet with Tomato. Noctis Lucis Caelum was avoiding the tomatoes on his serving, while his teammates ate everything on their plates until there was nothing left.

"Once again, thanks for letting us eat here Ignis," their leader, Cloud Strife, thanked the Englishman.

Ignis pushed his glasses to the bridge of his nose. "My pleasure."

Tidus Setto belched to show appreciation. His partner, Ramza Beoulve reprimanded his partner about his lack of manners.

"Hey, Cloud!" a voice Cloud was barely familiar with called. The blonde turned to find a monkey Faunus sprinting to the four teammates.

It was Sun Wukong. Just recently, they'd met after he and Blake Belladonna ambushed a White Fang hideout. Blake's secret of being a Faunus and a previous member of the White Fang was out of the bag to her friends. Cloud wasn't quite liking to the carefree Faunus, but if Blake trusted him, he did, too.

"Sun. How's it going?" Cloud greeted. Then, he smirked. "Steal anything yet?"

Sun pretended to be offended. "After all we've been through? C'mon, Cloud." He turned his attention to his companion with blue hair. "I wanna introduce you guys. Neptune, this is Cloud Strife, Noctis Lucis Caelum, Tidus Setto, and Ramza Beoulve," Sun said, gesturing to each of the boys as he said their names.

"Neptune Vasilias. How ya doing?" the blunette introduced himself, shaking each of their hands.

Tidus shook hard and fast. "Swell."

"Ecstatic," Noct responded.

Ramza replied, "Pleasant."

Cloud merely shrugged and shook Neptune's hand.

"Do you guys eat here all the time?" Sun asked the four.

"Indeed they do," Ignis answered after putting away his freshly cleaned cooking ware. "I service his royal highness and his compatriots." The Englishman extended his hand to the two gentlemen. "Ignis Scientia."

The two introduced themselves to the connoisseur. Noctis cleared his throat. "If you guys are looking for Blake and her other friends, they're in the cafeteria."

"Thanks Noct!" Sun thanked the raven-haired royal with a grin on his face. "Cool if I call you 'Noct,' right?"

Noctis returned it with a nod.

Neptune led Sun away so that the others could talk amongst themselves. That's when Ramza got an idea. "Shall we join you in your visit?"

Everyone, save for Ignis, who went back into his caravan to put away the leftovers, turned to the royal as if he swore heaven and earth to hell.

Tidus asked, "Where'd that come from?"

"I find 'tis rather rude that we still have yet to connect with our fellow classmates. We may be competing in the Vytal Festival; however, I find it best that we make them allies for the foreseeable future, in which we would require their aid."

The athlete retorted. "Hey, I've hung out with Ren and Nora."

Noct snorted. "Yeah, on the first day. Doesn't count."

Cloud nodded his head thoughtfully. "He's right. We're too caught up in trying to make ourselves stronger for the fights ahead, we haven't considered those who may fight with us."

"Well," Sun suggested, "why don't you come with us?"

Neptune stuck out a thumbs up. "I'm sure they'd like to get to know you better, too."

The team nodded. Noctis turned to the now present Ignis. "Need help, Specs?"

"Never you mind. Go spend time with your classmates. Make some friends while you're at it."

Noct grinned.

"Let's mosey," Cloud playfully ordered.

-

Whatever they were expecting to find when they entered the cafeteria...must've been far from what actually happened.

People ran past the six boys. They did so, alongside the exclamation, "FOODFIGHT!"

Cloud facepalmed. _You've gotta be kidding me._

Tidus whooped in excitement. He performed gymnastic movements to propel himself to join Team RWBY in the fight against Team JNPR. "I'm in."

Yang and the others greeted him with pats on the back. "Hey, you boys gonna stick together?" Yang all but blackmailed then to join.

"Might as well," Noctis sighed. He used a tray to bounce off a bench to stand on top of the table with his allies and held it as a shield.

Ramza shrugged. "I've never turned down a challenge."

Everyone turned to Cloud, who still hadn't said anything. He seemed to be mulling it over in his head.

His eyes gazed back up. "Okay. Let's do this." He tuned in to his semblance to use his most recent copy. An assortment of metal items present in the room formed together to make a makeshift mock greatsword.

"Hey, no fair," Jaune whined.

Cloud smirked and twirled his new weapon over his head. He leapt next to Ruby. Blue flames formed around his body. "All's fair in love and war."

Nora burst out laughing obnoxiously. "I'M QUEEN OF THE CASTLE! I'M QUEEN OF THE CASTLE!" She stood at the top of a structure made from the various cafeteria contents.

Ren seemed unsure that they could win this. "We're outnumbered."

"Not for long!"

Tifa flipped in to stand with Pyrrha. Squall walked next to Ren, still feeling ridiculous for being talked into something like this. Prompto joined Jaune with his arms crossed. Rinoa stood in front with hands on her hips.

Tidus cupped his hands together in front of his mouth, yelling, "THIS IS BETRAYAL!"

Noct raised a fist. "Then let's get our revenge!"

Ruby stood defiantly at her turncoat friends in the roleplaying. She stomped on a plate, sending its contents flying. She caught a milk carton. "Justice will be swift. Justice will be painful." She squeezed the contents out of the carton in gushes. "IT WILL BE DELICIOUS!!!" Ruby sounded her war cry.

The forces of RWBY and CNTR yelled out. Cloud dashed forward at his "enemies." The other combined teams launched watermelon after watermelon. The Soldier bypassed right through with his giant polarized baton, but was caught locking it with Squall, who held a metal rod.

Yang punched each watermelon into pieces with turkey for gauntlets. Noctis took a breadstick and hurled it like a javelin at Prompto. The blonde rolled out of the way. Noct grinned playfully at his best friend. "You'll pay with your 'life' for this betrayal."

"No! Please your highness! Mercy!" Prompto pleaded.

"No. Mercy."

Prompto grinned. "Too bad. Took the words right out of my mouth." Suddenly, Prompto exploded an orange soda in Noct's face. Prompto kicked his royal friend to the ground below. Food and plates bounced off the floor at the impact.

Tifa launched herself at Tidus. The athlete was able to use his gymnastic capabilities to evade the brawler's attempts to blast him against the wall. Ramza stuck a bench in front of Tifa's face. She went _splat_ and fell, staggered. The two bumped fists.

Rinoa launched can after can at Cloud to distract him from her boyfriend. Cloud de polarized one of the shorter pieces from his "sword" and used them both to attack Squall and stop Rinoa's bombing. Cloud could feel Squall's attacks becoming relentless.

_That's it. The more he attacks, the faster he gets with his attacks. _Cloud started his analysis. He blocked attack after attack, Squall getting swifter as they exchanged. The gunblader used Renzokuken and sent Cloud flying with a direct attack. As he flew by, Yang was launched through the roof by Nora's melon mallet.

Noct nailed Prompto's uniform to the wall with utensils to keep him out of the way. Tifa went at him with fist after fist. The more she punched and kicked at Noctis' "shield," the stronger each blow became that followed.

Not taking anymore, the prince abandoned the tray and took up the pole that Nora dropped and slammed Tifa against the vending machines that made their structure, making it topple. Blake whipped Nora into the toppling structure. Pyrrha utilized the sodas that spilled out of the vending machines to cause a storm that blew Blake across the cafeteria.

Cloud burst into blue flames. He stood next to Ruby and nodded for her approval. She and the blonde dashed forward, her running and Cloud thrusting the metal weapon forward. Ruby spun into a trail of roses with Cloud inside, turning their human missile into blue.

The vacuum that flew with them carried everything in the room towards the wall that held JNPR and SPTR. Cloud grabbed a tray and called his teammates over. Noct and he held trays as shields, while the blonde used the last of his Polarity imitation to hold a series of trays to shield the four from the incoming storm.

When everything settled down, RWBY and CNTR stood triumphant over JNPR and SPTR. Cloud twirled his pole in front of him and swung it into a victory pose behind him. Noctis merely cleaned his hands of imaginary dust and set his right hand over his hip. Tidus did a flip, threw his breadstick into the air, caught it and swung it down to his side to rest. Ramza merely bowed and thanked the others for this squabble.

"I love these guys," Sun told a disgruntled Neptune, who had soda all over his face.

-

_Bigger than we knew._

_Stronger than we blew._

_Never knew we wanted more_

_That and this and there, nor_

_The world we never knew._

_The animals gnaw at a bone_

_Of a grudge we wish was gone._

_All Remnants of that monster_

_Will take the strength that we muster._

_Yet through it all, it's a fight we must own!_

_Farther and farther!_

_Master the faster!_

_Enraged and engaged,_

_A fight we arranged!_

_This place for now is home!_

_But soon we shall roam_

_The world we never knew._

_THE WORLD WE NEVER KNEW_

_(A/N: For the record, I wrote this myself. Lyrics came from me. I have no recording of it. Don't expect one. I wanted to make a song for this volume and the ones to come. Should've thought of one for the previous one, but too little too late. Oh well.)_

_TBC..._


	2. Hints

Volume 2: Chapter 2

The rest of the day, Team RWBY sat in the library playing a board game. Team JNPR was studying, save for Nora and Jaune. Continually, Yang dominated the game. Noctis was too busy catching up on the news of his kingdom to participate in studying or festivities. Ramza on the other hand, was hard at work. Tidus was in the dorm sleeping after that foodfight.

"Hey, have you guys seen Cloud?" Blake asked the gang before leaving the table. Everyone shook their heads. She forgot that she found something at the docks that would be of interest to him. "Okay then."

"Women," Nora absentmindedly said.

-

On her way to her dorm, she noticed Cloud outside with someone talking to him on his Scroll. Blake walked to the cliff that he sat upon. Immediately, she recognized that voice. It was Zack Fair, Cloud's mentor and best friend, besides herself and Tifa.

"'Kay. I'll catch ya later, Cloud."

Cloud chuckled. "Don't let Ironwood catch you speaking with me until you get here."

Zack mocked a salute. "Yes, sir."

The feed ended. Cloud noticed a quiet movement. He stood up and immediately recognized the presence of a Faunus.

"What do you need, Blake?" he asked gently, his back turned to her. He stood up and strapped his sword with two attachments to his back.

Blake shuffled her feet. "I..need to give you something."

"What?"

The girl pulled a feather out of her pocket and showed the blonde. "You told me to tell you if I saw these. And bring them to you."

Cloud took it with wide eyes. The scent matched that of a dead man. "Was he there?"

Blake shook her head. "I'm not sure. When I looked up to the roof of the warehouse, a feather fell from it to the ground in front of me."

The Soldier pocketed the feather. "Thanks." He started to walk away.

Blake grabbed his arm. He stopped, but didn't turn around. "Cloud.." She stopped for a moment. "What are you going to do?"

He carefully wrenched his arm from her grip. "Tell my team. They said we'd prepare for him. Now, we have another piece of evidence that Sephiroth's alive."

"What do you mean?"

Cloud finally turned to her. "You remember on the first day we were here? My team and I fought an Alpha Behemoth. It had a very vulnerable cut on it. I've seen it before. He is the only one who does that."

Blake put a hand on his right shoulder. "Do you need help?"

Cloud shook his head. "No. _You_ need _my_ help. Let me help you with your White Fang issues, and you help me with him. That's how it's worked for us."

"We help each other."

_FLASH_

When Cloud next awoke, he was in a bed with red sheets and pillows. He sniffed the air. It smelled like an island civilization. It also smelled strongly of Faunus. He grabbed at the bandages on his bare chest.

When he finally peeled them off, it revealed a scar in the center of his chest. It all came back to him. Sephiroth. The village. The fire. The reactor. His mother. Tifa. Zack. The door opened and Cloud grabbed his First Tsurugi. Standing in front of him was a cat Faunus. Her scent was familiar.

"Blake?" the blonde asked.

A smile. "I'd ask how you knew my name, but the spikes gave it away." Blake set a tray with breakfast meant for Cloud on the foot of the bed. "It's good to see you, Cloud." Weirdly enough, the girl gave him a hug.

Cloud awkwardly hugged her back. "What's this for?"

Blake pulled away and looked at him. "When we got there, we thought everyone was dead. We got to the reactor and saw you laying on the stairs with a black haired man and Tifa unconscious on the floor. You three were half dead." She looked down. "Sorry we didn't get there sooner."

Cloud stepped forward and hugged her. "It's alright. You came." She returned the favor. She'd payed him back for saving her from Johnny and his friends.

"Here's your shirt." Blake have Cloud his stitched up navy blue sweater. "Mom fixed it up."

"Where's Ghira?"

"Dad's addressing Shin-Ra about the destruction their operative caused. Countless humans and Faunus died. He didn't tell them you three survived." She paused carefully. "We know what they did to you. I'm sorry."

Cloud shook his head. "It happened for a reason. If it hadn't, I wouldn't have been able to stop him." Cloud slipped his shirt on. It hardly even felt as if it was damaged. "How are they?"

Blake smiled. "Still worried about others over yourself?" She laughed a bit. "Tifa's asleep. She's healing, but not as much as you and that SOLDIER. He's in town helping the people."

The blonde sat down on the bed and slipped the rest of his gear on. He headed out to the town to join Zack. "Let me know if she wakes up."

_FLASH_

Cloud sat in a chair inside the dorm spinning the feather between his two fingers that held it. His teammates had yet to return to the room.

Many times he's kept these types of things to himself. Having a team has helped Cloud be more open to sharing information, especially that concerning his past. After the night at the docks, Ozpin had asked to see him after he was finished talking with Blake.

_FLASH_

Cloud stood with his back against the wall. This wasn't the first time he had been in this room. His main teacher at Signal often times brought him with him to talk to Ozpin. He gave them information on certain tournaments that were occurring in the area.

_FLASH_

Cloud still had yet to consider some of his previous endeavors as a Huntsman-in-training. He'd won many. One worthy of mentioning was the Merc Cup.

_FLASH_

When Cloud entered the ring, there stood his opponent. A girl with red hair and bronze armor. He recognized her instantly by her headpiece. This was Pyrrha Nikos.

"Hello!" she greeted Cloud like they'd been friends forever.

He merely said, "Hey."

She seemed a little put off by his minor greeting. Irregardless, she still smiled and readied her weaponry; a shield and a spear that doubled as a sniper.

Cloud merely pulled out his First Tsurugi and the secondary blade. He twirled them into his ready position. "Make it easy on yourself, and give up now."

Pyrrha raised an eyebrow. "A little overconfident, are we?"

Cloud shrugged. With that, he attacked her shield with both blades with a crushing blow. The guard flew out of her hand, across the arena. He smirked.

Not missing a beat, she whipped her spear at his cheek, but missed, then kicked him square in the chest. He only moved three steps backwards. _Well, that was underwhelming, _she commented to herself.

Cloud put both his two swords together. He may be far stronger than most fighters, but he still held onto the honor his mentor taught him.

_FLASH_

_"Embrace your dreams. And, whatever happens, protect your honor as SOLDIER. Well, okay. You never made SOLDIER, but it's what's in here that counts."_

_FLASH_

Cloud engaged the redhead again. She had good technique, he'd give her that. As they exchanged blows, she often tried to get a few shots off at him. None worked. Their blades locked. He glared at her, not in anger, just determination.

_Mako, _Pyrrha noted, recognizing the hue of a SOLDIER's eyes. Glowing blue. She pushed him back, jumped up, attacked at his head, expecting him to block, and he parried, sending her behind him. She switched to gun mode and fired at him.

Cloud merely whipped out a saw blade and blocked all shots with the one blade. He raised his main blade behind him. It glowed blue with flames. His gaze grew even more intense and brought the blade down in front of him.

A high speed Blade Beam was sent at the girl. She stamped her foot on her shield, flipping it to her arm, just in time to block most of it. Upon impact, it exploded. Pyrrha was launched to the wall. She dropped both her weapons and fell to the floor.

Cloud looked at the projection of both their Aura levels. She was almost done; he was at 69%. She was at 37%. He linked the third blade to his main weapon. He closed his eyes and put his blade in front of him. He projected his Aura into his body to charge his energy. Cloud's mako allowed himself to dilute energy from one category into the other to strengthen it.

He knew that this would drain his Aura levels significantly, but it was worth it for his intent. His percentage dropped to 23%. His body started to heat up. Even if she blocked this blow he would get a Limit Break. Cloud leapt at the now crouching Pyrrha.

She raised her shield against the incoming blade. It caused a crack. Cunningly, Pyrrha used her Polarity to be poised to hit Cloud. Just as she launched it, he pushed off the shield, into the air bursting into blue flames. His percentage dropped to 21%. _Perfect._

Cloud raised his sword over his head and descended down, the blade poised for below. Pyrrha thought his target was her. _Wrong, _he said in his head. His target was the ground in front of her.

The impact caused area damage to a five foot radius. A double-buzzer sounded. _Just as I planned. _Cloud never wanted to win. He wanted to beat the system. The two looked to the board. It read 15% to 15%. While she looked shocked, Cloud smirked and sheethed his sword. He leaned down and extended a hand to his combatant.

"Not bad at all," he commended her.

Pyrrha smiled, thoughtfully. "You planned that, didn't you?" She took his hand and stood with his help.

His eyes twinkled. "Is that what you think?" While his eyes said so much, his face said nothing.

The announcer came down with the trophy. "I don't know who to award this to. Not to mention the prize money."

Pyrrha was about to say that it should go to him, but Cloud stopped her. His eyes seemed to say _Let me handle this. _She nodded. For whatever reason, she seemed to trust him.

"Dedicate this trophy for the gratitude of the service of the Hunters and the Kingsglaive who protect the people. As for the prize money, distribute it to the people in the slums of Midgar."

The announcer raised an eyebrow. "How much of it?"

"70%," Pyrrha stepped in. Cloud turned to look at her. She seemed to catch the gist. "We'll settle for 15% each."

"As says the scoreboard," Cloud noted.

The world practically said, "So let it be written, so let it be done.

-

Cloud walked out of the locker room after showering and resetting his blades into six separate swords. He noticed a sound. High heals followed him.

"Need something, Miss Nikos?" Cloud asked.

Pyrrha walked in front of him. "Hello again! I just wanted to say that I liked what you did."

"What do you mean?"

"Everyone's always expecting a winner. You decided that you didn't want it to be that way. You wanted to do something for charity. Not just anyone would do that. You beat the system. Congratulations, Mister Strife."

They shook hands. Cloud smiled. Actually _smiled. _"You fought pretty well. Kept me on my toes."

She blushed. "You're just saying that. I barely even landed a blow."

"It was luck. I matched you by guessing. You've got style."

Pyrrha put one of her strands of hair behind her ear. "So, what do you plan on doing with your money?"

Cloud shrugged. "A project."

"Like what?"

"Confidential."

"Most people would upgrade their weaponry."

"Not interested. Good as is."

Pyrrha eyes his harness. "What's it called?"

"First Tsurugi or Fusion Sword."

She nodded. _Makes sense. _"Miló and Akoúō."

Cloud smiled. "Where you planning to end up?"

"I don't understand your question."

"Say next year."

At this point they were seventeen, soon to be eighteen.

"Beacon Academy."

Cloud smirked and lowered his head, chuckling. "Must be fate."

"Seriously?" Pyrrha asked in disbelief.

"Think we'll be teammates?" Cloud asked.

"I'd think it would be better to be allies. At the very least."

"I can settle for that."

"Hey, Cloud!"

Tifa and Barret were in the parking lot, waiting for him to get in the truck. "Be there in a sec!" he called back.

"I don't believe that we've properly met yet." Pyrrha placed her hand on her chest. "Pyrrha Nikos."

"Cloud Strife," he replied, not wasting a second, knowing how impatient Barret is. Tifa, too, especially if he's talking to a girl. "I better go. See you at Beacon next year." He trotted to his friends.

"Good luck on your endeavors!" Pyrrha called.

"You, too!"

_FLASH_

That's how Cloud met Pyrrha. Had it not been Ozpin who recommended that tournament, they wouldn't have known each other beforehand.

Suddenly, his team burst through the door. He'd have to get back to his conversation with Ozpin later.

"Hey, Cloud!"

"Everything alright?"

A nod.

"What are we doing tomorrow, boss?" Noctis asked.

Cloud held up the feather. "We're going hunting."

_TBC..._


	3. Airtight

Volume 2: Chapter 3

Getting Ramza to get into at least a suit was challenging, considering his nation's traditional clothing. Noctis put on sneakers, jeans, his skull t-shirt and a black and white blazer. Tidus didn't have to pick much different from his Zanarkand Abes uniform, just instead of the regular yellow and black, it sported white and black.

The leader, however, had the biggest challenge. Cloud didn't have much to change into. Noctis had bought a zip up jacket with a wolf emblem design spread over the left side of the jacket. The raven-haired prince also loaned a pair of black cargo pants. Used to tight clothes, Cloud was genuinely surprised that he found his attire more comfortable.

"Let's go over the plan once more," Ramza recommended.

Noctis spoke first. "Blake had mentioned that she was going to infiltrate this building that the White Fang is meeting at tonight. Your friend in the Atlas military loaned us some x-ray goggles to eavesdrop on the meeting. All the while, gathering footage on the camera attached. That shall be my roll."

Tidus broke in. "Cloud and I will go to the docks from that night to look for any trace that Sephiroth was there."

"I shall investigate my country's records of surveillance for any trace of a swordsman with exceptionally long, silver hair and a very long Masamune Blade," Ramza included.

"Right," Cloud nodded. He turned to Noctis. "Make sure while you're at the meeting to keep an eye on Blake. If she does anything out of the ordinary, you pull her out. I don't care if it causes trouble."

Noctis nodded.

There was a knock on the door. The four put their hands vigilantly on their weapons. Cloud stalked toward the door. He opened the door.

"Package for Mr. Strife? From Lieutenant Fair?" It was the delivery man from Zack's division in the Atlesean Military. Cloud sighed, relieved.

"Yes, that's me."

"Oh. Great! Just sign here," the man requested.

Cloud did so. "Have a good day. Give Lieutenant Fair my thanks."

"Will do!"

With the door closed, Cloud opened the box, revealing eight right earpieces that were compatible with their Scrolls. "Take two, just in case one breaks."

Ramza was baffled. "How did you come to acquire such advanced technology?"

"My best friend is a high ranked soldier in the Atlesean Military. He pulled a few strings to get us these." Cloud connected the earpiece to his Scroll. "With these, we'll be able to contact each other on a shared line just by clicking on these buttons on the side."

His teammates did likewise. "Alright," Tidus said. "Let's get this show on the road!"

"What show exactly?" a feminine voice questioned the four boys.

All color from Cloud's face was drained. _Damnit, Tifa, _he thought. "Don't tell me you're going places without us," Prompto said.

Noct brought his left palm to cover his face. _You **cannot **be serious. _"It's not nice to keep friends out of the loop," a monotone voice that belonged to Squall shook Tidus' bones.

"Yeah, no fair!" Rinoa complained.

"Cloud..." Tifa all but pleaded for Cloud to explain.

The blonde sighed ruefully. "It's...sensitive."

She looked confused. "About..what?"

He carefully looked at the people in the room, then into Tifa's eyes. "Our past."

-

Cloud finally finished explaining to Team SPTR about what Blake found at the docks that night with the White Fang. The members of Team CNTR explained the little pieces of evidence that led the four of them to believe that Sephiroth was alive.

"Hmm," Squall contemplated all that had just recently been revealed to them.

Prompto was shocked upon learning what happened to Cloud and Tifa's hometown. "Man.."

Tifa could only touch her fingers to the place that held her scar from all those years ago. Cloud placed a hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her.

Rinoa had a hand to her mouth the whole time. Wide eyes were the only things that expressed her emotions about the situation.

"We wanted to keep this airtight," Tidus explained. "We figures that there was enough danger upon the four of us. Cloud was the one who beat him. Us being near him was bad enough. If anyone else got involved, you guys would be targeted, too."

Squall got an intense look on his face. "That's our responsibility as Huntsmen and Huntresses, to carry this kind of burden. Together. It's also what..friends do."

Cloud sighed. "You're right. We should've told you guys. Especially you, Tifa. I just didn't want you to get hurt again."

Tifa looked Cloud dead in the eyes. "Do you think I want you to get hurt, too? He stabbed you in the chest, damnit!" She grabbed his hands with hers. "Come on. We're safer if we fight together." Cloud looked mildly shocked at her forward ness, especially with her gripping his hands tight. Tifa finally looked down at their hands. She hastily retracted her hands. "Don't do this by yourselves. Let us fight, too."

Cloud looked around the room. Everyone looked to support Tifa's offer. "You guys sure?"

Squall merely rolled his eyes. "You're hopeless."

Tifa quirked an eyebrow. "About?"

Everyone but the two friends facepalmed—even Ramza. "I take it back. You _both _are hopeless." They both looked confused. "Whatever. What's the plan?"

-

Prompto followed Noct on the rooftops that overlooked Blake and Sun. For whatever reason, Sun and Neptune convinced Team RWBY to let them help their little investigation into the White Fang. They guessed that they'd let Sun and his friend tag along if Cloud could get Blake to let them do this.

"Guess we're not the only convincing people," Prompto quipped.

Noct shrugged. "Whatever. The more, the merrier."

Prompto nodded.

"Come on. Let's not get left behind."

-

Tidus, Cloud, and Tifa were at the docks, combing for more clues that Sephiroth was present. Fortunately, the authorities still had yet to investigate the crime scene.

"Don't you guys think it was too easy to get in here?" Tifa asked.

Cloud shook his head. "They tend to be behind on their work. They have to juggle their cases with how much crime happens."

"All the same, let's not look a gift crime scene in the puddle of blood," Tidus playfully suggested.

The mental crowds in their heads were booing at the ridiculous use of the saying. "Stay focused."

Cloud entered one of the warehouses. One of the perks of having heightened senses included enhanced night vision. His eyes opened wide at the sight he saw. He ran outside. "Guys! Over here!"

The Soldier turned the lights on. What was shown was a bloodbath with countless White Fang members dead with blood all over the floor. Cloud's head was filled with images of the Nibelheim Incident.

Tifa gasped. She held her hands in front of her mouth. Tidus was speechless. He was now seeing the damage that Sephiroth could do. All over the floor was black feathers.

Cloud pulled the feather that Blake had given him out of his pocket. He held it next to one of the feathers that was on the ground. "They're identical."

"He was here."

-

Ramza, Squall and Rinoa were looking through the countless surveillance tapes that Ramza was able to acquire from his country. Over and over again, it was just blurs.

"Man, kinda wishing I went with Tifa," Rinoa whined.

Squall looked over at her. "And miss out on some small talk."

"While this may be you assisting us with our objective, need I remind you that we are attempting to gain visual evidence of a mass murderer?" Ramza asked.

"Why don't you take your head with your oversized ponytail and-" Rinoa began to suggest aggressively but was halted when the computer she was looking at finally beeped a confirmation that their search found something.

"What have you found, Miss Heartilly?"

"It was that night at the docks. From a helicopter. It's titled..."_One-Winged Angel."_

The tape showed a man with silver hair and a long sword. He looked up at the copter and _smiled. _A wing shot from the right of his back and he shot into the sky.

A slash could be heard, followed by fuzzy snow on the screen. The recording was cut off.

"Uh-oh," Rinoa said.


	4. No 7

Volume 2: Chapter 4

Tidus and Tifa followed behind Cloud as they went to meet up with Squall, Ramza, and Rinoa. Ever since they found the crime scene, Cloud has only managed to give out their instructions to follow him and that the other three found something. The whole walk, Tifa looked worried and kept glancing at Cloud. Sensing her distress, Tidus leaned close to her ear to whisper, remembering that Cloud could hear them if they talked too loud.

"Hey, d'you think he's okay?"

Tifa knew what he was doing. Normally, anyone that close would get punched in the face. Hard. She sighed. "I dunno. He just seems...deflated."

"How so?" Tidus asked.

"All his life, Cloud had been treated and felt like a failure before the Mako. And even after Nibelheim." Tifa paused for a bit.

Tidus got it. "That's his guilt trip."

Tifa nodded. "He feels he's not good enough."

"Man is he far from 'not good enough.' The dude could hold his own against my dad. He's also practically an ace. His leadings are all-star plays. All three of us guys admire him." Tidus smiled proudly. He didn't care if Cloud heard them for this bit. "Me, Noct, Ramza. We're proud of him. Don't know where we'd be without Cloud."

Tifa playfully punched the athlete in his left shoulder. "Hey, I'm proud of him, too."

"Don't get him wrong, either. He's proud of you, and too. Every time we ask him what he thinks about you, he talks about you with praise. You're a year behind us in age, but made it into Beacon the same year as us. We may admire him, but he admires you most. Well, you and his friend in the Atlesean Military. We haven't met him yet, but he sounds like a fun guy to be around."

Tifa giggled. "Yeah. He is."

"Oh, so you know the guy."

"Yup. You'll know him when you see him."

Cloud smiled. Regardless of their efforts to talk so he couldn't hear, he heard it all. It felt good to know that his friends thought the world of him. Even though he wasn't quite prepared for Tifa to know the pedistal he held her on, he let it slide.

_CRASH*_

A loud impact sounded from around the corner. Speeding past were two high-tech mechs, chasing a black haired girl and a boy with a monkey tail, followed by a boy with raven, spiky hair and a boy with blonde hair.

"Great," Cloud deadpanned.

A bike pulled up to the trio. "Yo! Been a while."

Cloud and Tifa knew that voice. "Reno," they greeted the Turk dryly and simultaneously.

"Who's his guy?" Tidus asked.

"Reno of the Turks. We go way back."

Tifa rolled her eyes. "You mean when you antagonized Barret at the bar for his protests against Shin-Ra?"

"And almost with more holes in you than when you came in?" Cloud added. A bike zoomed into the direction their friends went. "Reno, would you like to make it up to us?"

The redhead nodded.

"Then give me the bike." Reno went wide eyed. "I'll do my best to bring it back in one piece."

He handed it over all but reluctantly. There was only room for two. Tidus put his hands up. "I know a shortcut. I'll meet you guys there."

Cloud nodded. He revved the engine and glanced to Tifa who sat behind him. "Gonna have to go fast. Sorry, Teef."

She just shook her head. "Do what you have to? Besides, it's more fun this way." She grinned.

Cloud smirked and took off towards the chase. Tifa clung onto him to keep from falling off.

-

When the chaos of the chase settled, Team RWBY was engaging Roman Torchwick in the first mech, while Team CNTR and Team SPTR engaged the other.

"You guys want first crack?" Cloud asked Squall.

The brunette shrugged. "Why not? Smokescreen!"

Rinoa threw a giant boulder with her Dust and Prompto blew it up with his launcher, leaving a permeating smoke around the area. All eight students circled around the mech, quietly. Squall slashed at the head and Noctis impaled the "neck" with his Drain Lance. Tifa and Cloud attacked the legs. Tidus and Ramza impaled the shoulders of the machine. Rinoa froze its left side and Prompto threw an electric charge at the right side.

Cloud gave out the next command. "Royale!"

Noct and Ramza dashed forward and danced and slashed at the ankles, forcing the machine to its knees. They finished with an upward, unified slash that caused it to flip onto its back.

"Vengeance!"

Tifa bombarded the now standing mech with punches infused with electric Dust. Wings sprung from Rinoa's back. Her Semblance awakened.

"What's that?" Tidus asked.

Squall smiled. "Ascension. Her Semblance. She can tap into the true power that the Gods have given us."

Meteors rained down on the machinery from Rinoa's weapon.

"Fitness!"

Cloud ran around the mech at wicked speed thanks to Ruby. The mechs head tried to keep up, but couldn't, thus its tracking system malfunctioned. Tidus cartwheeled, and flipped high and brought down a Crescent Slash. Cloud plunged his sword into the body of the mech and ripped upward. The two blows were starting to tear the thing apart.

Cloud was about to be punched by the mech when Tifa threw him out of the way. She punched the fist again and again and again.

Tidus was about to get back in there. Cloud stopped him. "Why?"

"She's fine. That's her Semblance. Ravage. The more she attacks, the stronger the next one is."

On cue, the hand of the mech burst into pieces. Squall blurted out, "Trigger-Happy!"

Prompto and Squall unleashed powerful barrages of bullets and fire blasts on the mech causing it to stagger back.

"Finish it!" Squall called to the other leader.

"Got it! Omni-Armiger!"

Cloud and Noct threw their weapons into the air, very well high above the mech and warped. Noctis conjured his Armiger and turned Cloud's six swords into tranparent figures. Both sets of weapons spun in place and circled around the two. Cloud grabbed a saw blade and warped for the first slash.

Noct followed with the Sword of the Wise. Cloud used his secondary blade to slash the crack that he and Tidus made. The Axe of the Conquerer. Switchblade one. Swords of the Wanderer. Blade of the Mystic. Saw blade two. First Tsurugi. Bow of the Clever. Star of the Rogue. Switchblade two. Repeat. Sword of the Tall. Repeat. Shield of the Just. Repeat. Mace of the Fierce. Scepter of the Pious. Repeat. Repeat. Katana of the Warrior.

A pause.

Cloud and Noctis grabbed First Tsurugi and the Engine Blade. They threw their blades down, spending Cloud's final Warp imitation, causing all seventeen weapons to attack the mech. They slashed right through the core, tearing it apart indefinitely.

Split open, it housed a person that filled Cloud with hate beyond measure. It was Professor Hojo.

Cloud's eyes were ablaze with rage. He raised his now combined Fusion Sword at the man in the wreckage. "Hojo! Why are you here?!"

The man merely chuckled. "Why indeed? Shin-Ra needed a mole inside the White Fang and its human associates, so I volunteered."

Squall was confused. "Who's this guy?" Prompto and the others that didn't know nodded in agreed curiosity.

Tifa sighed. "Professor Hojo, head researcher in Mako energy at Shin-Ra Electric Power Company, a company that prefers the lifeblood of the world for power and energy instead of Dust." She paused, not really seeming forthcoming with the rest. "He's also the one that experimented on Cloud years ago."

Prompto looked shocked, like he knew what that was like. "They experimented on humans?" He pointed his gun at the man.

Hojo's eyes twinkled with amusement. "A necessary profession. We seek a means to create a super powered army to deal with the Grimm."

Cloud snarled. "Your experiments helped make new breeds of Grimm."

The scientist seemed slightly disappointed. "I will have you know that I did not have any purposeful role in creating more powerful breeds of those monstrosities. Someone broke in one night and stole 200 miles worth of Mako energy. I can only surmise someone made a mistake and unleashed it on Grimm to make more...primitive monsters."

Ramza spoke up, "Such as the Behemoth."

Hojo grinned. "Ah, so you've already encountered one. And survived."

Cloud shrugged and lowered his sword. This man was no threat. Not right now anyway. "We got lucky. One of your rogue operatives weakened it."

"Did he now? Splendid."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Noctis asked angrily. "You're okay with a mass murderer go around Remnant with the power of the world at his side? What are you people?!"

A bike pulled up. Reno came for it and braked next to Hojo. "Let's go, Professor. President Shinra would like a debrief."

The man rolled his eyes and hopped on. "Rufus and his obsession with needing to know is getting infuriating. This is the fifth one this week."

Tidus yelled, "Wait!"

"We're not done here!" Rinoa shouted.

"Let them go." Cloud actually was letting him go. "He's just a pawn. We have bigger fish to fry."

Hojo nodded. "I'll leave you to it...No. 7."

Cloud changed back to angry. "Go before I change my mind!"

"10-4 boss!" Reno called and sped off.

"Cloud! Squall!" a voice called from atop the bridge.

Cloud knew it was Ruby. "You guys okay?!" he called back.

She nodded. "Yeah, but Torchwick got away!"

Squall nodded ruefully. "Let's head back! Don't want to get in trouble!"

"Okay!"


	5. Sparks

It was the next combat period. Glynda had just finished with Pyrrha Nikos' performance against Cardin Winchester and his team, followed by the match that was forfeited by Mercury Black from Haven.

Cloud was to be the demonstration for his class against the team that has been bullying SPTR since the start of the year: Team SFVR, consisting of Seifer, FuJin, Vivi, and RaiJin. Fu and Rai were merely following their leader's example. When they weren't with him, they were pretty fine. Rai had a speech pattern that always ended with "y'know?" at the end. Fu attempted to speak with as little syllables as possible but made it sound firm even when it was quiet. Vivi was quiet and shy, but in combat he was fierce.

Seifer was pretty simple to understand for Cloud. He was arrogant. He always thought that he was the best and that everyone else was a "chicken-wuss." He even called Cloud "blondie." His arrogance would cost him in this fight. Cloud had First Tsurugi and his secondary blade he dubbed Girder in hand with the four other swords in his harness.

The ex-Soldier walked into the arena, dauntlessly, not fearing his opponents and their minor efforts that they possess. Immediately, Fu shot her shuriken at the blonde. Rai went at him next, head-on. Cloud ducked underneath the shuriken aimed for his head and blocked Rai's attacks. Seifer was shooting at Cloud, regardless of his teammate's position, with his gunblade, Hyperion.

Vivi let out Dust spells at Cloud to attack him when he had an opening. Cloud knew their tactics all too well. Fu would attack ranged, then get in close. He subdued the girl effortlessly. Rai was a brute. Brainless, practically unethical. Cloud knocked the staff from his hands, leaving him shocked. The blonde attached Girder to First Tsurugi, beginning the Fusion Sword. He caught Rai's staff and hit the dark skinned warrior in a part that left him immobilized.

The moment Cloud got in his face, Vivi dropped his staff and put his hands up. He knew when he was beaten. Seifer got angry and charged at the ex-Soldier. Cloud locked his sword with Hyperion. Seeking an advantage, Cloud whipped out his saw blade. The other boy dodged and spun to slash at Cloud.

Cloud back flipped over it and landed away from him. Cloud attached the third weapon to the other two. He then attacked relentlessly. The blonde was imitating Tifa's Ravage semblance. Hyperion was blasted from Seifer's grip. Cloud then kicked him away. The Ravage had one last use left.

He attached the forth weapon. Blue flames burst around him. Cloud pulled a bottle of gravity Dust and threw it to the center of the arena, sucking his four targets to the zone. He zipped to it and unleashed a Finishing Touch, spinning with his sword outstretched to hit them again and again, expending Ravage.

Cloud landed center stage, all four of the hostiles incapacitated. Goodwitch stepped forward, congratulating Cloud for his performance. "While this seemed particularly one sided, your matches in the Vytal Festival will have even quantities in fighters for each team." The professor eyed the audience of students in the bleachers. "Is there anyone in particular that would like to challenge someone else or Mr. Strife, should he be willing, to one more match?" Silence. "How about you...Mr. Estheim, was it?"

Everyone turned to the Vacuo initiate from Team LYHV (Live). Hope Estheim had silver hair that seemed tame in grooming, yet still wild in some spots. He wore an assortment of white, black and yellow. His wear seemed professional, for he wore a white shirt, with a blue tie, and a black and yellow suit, as well as black pants with white boots and black soles. His gloves changed between black and white on the dimensions of his hands. On his wrist was a green scarf tied to it.

"Um...me?" the silverette asked. He seemed intelligent, albeit hesitant to challenge someone. "I mean if it's alright."

"I'll fight," a voice cut the air, short, swift, and sharp.

A female with pink hair stood up. Her clothing matched that of the Guardian Corps. Cloud recognized her immediately.

"But, Light, I can fight!" Hope defended. He stood up swiftly, looking at her, slightly offended. "I don't have to fight him. There's others."

She put her hand on his shoulder and looked up at him. "As your leader, I'm telling you that I don't think he's ready to be done."

"I'm not," Cloud cut in, just as swiftly and quietly as she did. "Honestly, I've wanted to fight you for a while now, Lightning." He smirked.

Lightning Farron gave a single syllable laugh and smirked back. "You as well...Soldier."

His smirk disappeared. "It's ex-Soldier."

"Same here." She turned back to Hope. "As your friend, I want you to save your skills for the tournament. I don't want anyone getting a scoop on you."

Hope nodded. "Okay." His green eyes glew a brighter green. "He's fast. But if you can be faster, you can win. Careful. He's brutal."

Lightning smiled. "Thanks, Hope. Your semblance is nothing to scoff at. Libra is unique and useful." Lightning flipped from the bleachers into the arena. "Let's go. You'll be sorry you let me fight you."

Cloud slung his four/sixths complete Fusion Sword to his ready position from his shoulder. "Just do what you can."

As the two charged it looked like they'd whizzed past each other; however, the two hit each other's blades simultaneously at high speed. Cloud whirled around and lashed. Lightning knew of the ex-Soldier and his Mako strength, so she chose to dodge most of his blows. When they did exchange blows Lightning would follow up with faster blows.

_Her Semblance; it's like Squall's. If her blade comes into contact with another, it gains more kinetic energy, thus resulting in faster attacks. That's why it feels so much more powerful each time._

As her blade absorbed more energy, her blade had a pink aura about it, much like her pink spikes. His eyes widened at the realization. _It's actually more like Adam. _In his reverie of thoughts, Cloud failed to block her next strike, blasting him away.

He recovered well on his feet. He smiled. _Focus, Strife. _Sometimes, he really hated the nature of his Semblance. More often than not, his analysis takes precedence over his focus, something that could result in a negative outcome.

_At least it wasn't for nothing. I've got it now. _Cloud held his blade in front of him. "What do you call it?"

Lightning looked slightly confused. She charged at him and he attacked as well. Their blades locked. Her Blazefire Saber glew a magenta shade now and his four Fusion Swords glew azure. _Ah. That's what he meant. _She smirked. "Flash Friction," she replied as well emotionless as he speaks.

Cloud smirked. "It suits it."

They disengaged and attacked each other again. After a few series of stalemates in power, they locked blades again. "Liking it so far?" Lightning actually looked tired. Only a little.

Cloud knew he was reaching his limit. Barely. "Yes. Very much."

Lightning knocked his weapon upward, not out of his hand, and charged her Sparkstrike. Cloud knew this was coming. _Gotta change it up, _he thought. His Semblance acted as if it had a mind of its own. His blade still glew azure, but at the same time his body took the brunt of the electricity. "Gotcha."

Cloud burst into blue flames with blue electricity surrounding him, stimulating his muscles. His blade was ignited as well with flames and lightning. Faster than the eye can see, Cloud attached his two switchblades to the Fusion Sword, completing it.

Nora Valkyrie noticed that Cloud had copied her Semblance. "Let 'er rip, Cloud!" she shouted.

_Don't need to tell me twice. _Normally, people get offended when his Imitation is their semblance. Knowing how Nora is, however, it didn't surprise him. Cloud got a boost from the electricity. Somehow, it enabled him to Imitate Nora's electricity-absorption and Noctis' Crystal Infusion to have his six swords act as his Armiger.

No more words required, Cloud unleashed his six electrified Fusion Swords on Lightning. She blocked three, but the third Imitation that he had active, Lightning's Flash Friction, had kicked in as well, causing his attacks to increase with speed and rendering her efforts useless, leaving her exposed to the other seven blows.

_Weird, _he thought. _That's never happened before. Only ever been able to use one at a time. Nora's charge must've helped. _Cloud grabbed First Tsurugi and launched himself downward. The five other swords struck Lightning, wiping out the rest of her Aura.

Cloud pulled his sword to his left, his right arm across his chest. He saw Hope stand up, a worried expression on his face. Cloud could tell that he cared for her a great deal. He knew the silverette's Semblence from their conversation. He knew he could read him and his intent.

Hope recognized the message Cloud was sending him. _It will be alright. _The transfer nodded. Cloud landed on two feet and merely struck Lightning's Blazefire Saber out of her hand. She looked up shocked.

Cloud sighed at her expression. "I may have been meant to be a weapon of war, but I still have a conscience." The five other blades landed, piercing the stage floor. The blonde holstered his main weapon and extended a hand. "You put up a decent fight."

She smiled a little bit. "Thanks." He helped her to her feet as soon as she took his hand. "You're something else, Mr. Strife."

"It's Cloud. Can I ask you something?" She nodded. "How do you feel about some practice with each other's teams?" She quirked an a eyebrow. "We could even rope in our friends' teams. We already have weekly sessions of prep for the tournament."

Lightning thought it over. She had a definitive answer, but she thought that she'd let him guess. "I'll think about it."

Cloud already knew. His Mako eyes glew even brighter blue. He Imitated Hope's Libra. _That means yes._

_A/N: A new friend that can relate to Cloud in past and in attitude. Expect more characters to come._


	6. Dance

_A/N: I don't own crap. Not Final Fantasy or this amazing song by Avicii. This is the longest chapter I have ever wrote._

Oh, the dread that awaited Cloud Strife. In all his excitement, though he'd never show it, for the Vytal Festival Tournament, he forgot the dance.

It's not that he couldn't dance—his mother taught him well—it's that he was a little shy when it came to these things. Being a loner most of his life has led to this entire mindset.

The blonde made the mistake of asking his teammates for advice. Since Team LHYV had started to practice for the tournament with their friends, and Prompto had teased him that he liked Lightning. He denied it entirely. His red face did nothing to change their minds. It's not that they were right; it just made him uncomfortable to talk about this kind of stuff.

Unfortunately, in the midst of his embarrassment, Cloud failed to notice that two others were very uncomfortable talking like this. Whenever this topic was brought up, Hope seemed a little disappointed, almost as if he wanted to ask Lightning something, but not able to. Tifa seemed sad, but was quick to hide it whenever anybody noticed.

Knowing his friends and how opposite the two were, Noctis was primarily concerned with Weiss and Yang, being as they were planning the whole thing. The scenario was practically a ticking time bomb. Surprisingly, the two girls came up with compromises for their disputes all on his own.

What surprised him the most was when Weiss asked him what she should do when she said she was going to ask Neptune to be her date for the dance. The heiress was one of his only female friends, one of which he was thinking of asking, but as her friend would respect her wishes.

Tidus and Ramza seemed to be concerned with working out dates for themselves. Tidus noticed one girl that caught his eye when Team LYHV came to a practice. Her name was Yuna Braska. Cloud could tell even without Hope's Libra that the blonde was head-over-heels for her. Ramza deduced that no one caught his eye, so he decided that he'd go alone.

"C'mon, Cloud. You can face down an Alpha Behemoth, but you can't ask a girl?!" Tidus questioned his leader.

He blanched at the forwardness. "It's not that simple for people like me."

Ramza, being one for logical deduction, thought aloud, "Perhaps Lightning would be amenable to a friendly evening at this venue. After all, the two of you are 'ex-soldiers'. That's the term, correct?"

Tidus nodded. "C'mon! Just ask her."

Cloud merely stood from his chair and walked away. Tifa and her team noticed his abrupt exit. "What's up with him, do you think?"

Squall scoffed slightly. "What else? They're trying to get him to ask Lightning. Again."

Tifa sighed sadly. "They just won't let up."

Rinoa got a glint in her eyes. "You wanna ask him to go with you." It wasn't a question. "Just ask him. Don't let him get away." The brunette leaned closer to Tifa's face. "Again."

Tifa put her hands up in defeat. "Alright. Fine. I'll ask him tonight."

The couple that sat with her clapped hands.

-DH

Yuna accepted Tidus' request to accompany him to the dance. The blonde also explained that he wanted to get Cloud and Lightning to go together. The brunette was on board.

They had told her leader that one of the teachers needed to see her in the courtyard. Knowing that Cloud wasn't the trusting type, they had Ramza inform him that someone wanted to see him at the courtyard.

Cloud sat there, waiting for someone to show up. As he sat he thought of that night when Ozpin asked him about that night at the warehouse.

_FLASH*_

"Have a seat," Ozpin invited him.

"I'd rather stand."

He smiled. "Much like Qrow." The headmaster sat down. "Your friend Ms. Belladonna was located at a warehouse where the White Fang was handling business. I also realize that you knew of this."

Cloud merely nodded.

"I take it you are aware of her lineage."

Another nod.

"I am also aware of your history, Mr. Strife. Having inspecting it, the authorities have collected black feathers at the crime scene. There was evidence that one was taken from the crime scene." His eyes narrowed slightly, as if trying to gauge the Soldier's reaction. Nothing. "Are you in possession of one of these feathers?"

A shake of the head. "No."

"If not you, then who do you propose absconded with this piece of evidence?"

A shrug. "All I need to know is if my friend was okay."

The headmaster nodded. "Precisely. I merely ask this because the authorities are aware of your past and wished to ensure that you were not there involved in this in any way."

The blonde nodded. The two knew the reality of the situation, but respected each other enough to handle their end of things their own way. "It's fine. Thank you, Professor Ozpin."

"You may go," Ozpin excused the blonde. "Remember to keep those you trust close. You never know what's coming until it's too late. Good luck, Cloud."

_FLASH*_

"Hey!"

The blonde looked up to see Lightning. Walking to him. Immediately, he could tell they'd been set up. "You, too, huh?"

She looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"Our teammates are trying to get us to go to the dance together," Cloud explained.

Realization could be seen in her eyes. "Ah." She sat next to him on the ground. "Didn't really think I'd go with anyone."

Cloud shook his head. "I'm wanting to go with someone, but I'm not desperate to the point that I'd go with anyone I've just met a few days ago."

"Yuna and Tidus did. Why not you?" the pinkette asked.

"Not my style. It's nothing against you." He looked at her. Her eyes looked as if determined to make him pay if he said the wrong thing. "I just don't see you that way. Soldiers don't exactly belong together, if you know what I mean."

She nodded and looked away. "My superior officer dated someone else in the Guardian Corps. Things were good at first, but after the fourth month, they broke things off."

Cloud nodded. "While I may not want to necessarily go to the dance with you, there's someone else who wants to."

Lightning looked at him quizzically. "Who?"

"Your teammate."

"Vaan? Really?"

The blonde facepalmed. "No. Not him."

Her eyes went wide. "Hope?"

A nod.

"But, he's...you know...and I..." she trailed off.

Cloud snapped his fingers. "Exactly. That's exactly why you should. You can't describe it."

"Well, then, how about you and the brunette with the long hair? Like, really long?"

"Tifa?" He went blank. His jaw dropped and he put his hand down over his face. _How did I miss it? _"That's what it was."

"What was it?"

He sighed and continued. "With our friends pressuring us to go to the dance together, I missed what was going on with Tifa and Hope. They-"

"-were jealous. They thought we were going to go together when they want to go with us," Lightning finished for him.

"Yep. Man, Weiss was right. I _am _a dunce."

"That makes two of us."

Cloud smiled. "It's funny. Our friends wanted us to talk to each other about going to the dance together, but we ended up helping each other find dates instead."

"That's if I ask him."

"Trust me. You both will be better off going together. It'll make your guys' night. I promise."

Lightning actually smiled. "Alright."

Cloud stood up. _Time to channel my inner Zack. _"Well, I'm off to go get me a date."

"Good luck on yours," Lightning cheered him on.

Cloud smiled once more, elated that he'd figured it out. "See ya." He took off back to the dorm. "Thanks, Lightning!"

"Call me Light!" she called.

-DH

Noctis strolled through the halls late at night trying to get back to the dorm and figure out his date. He still had yet to find one. None really spoke out to him.

Just outside, he noticed the Atlesean Fleet, surrounding the school. One thing that spoke out to the prince was a sort of chamber with state of the art protection.

_Wonder what they're hiding, _the raven-haired youth pondered. Choosing to take this detour, Noct began to inspect the chamber, carefully.

"_You."_

Noctis turned around. It was an Atlesean Drone. "Yes?"

"_You are trespassing on Atlas property. State your name."_

Noctis cleared his throat. "Prince Noctis Lucis Caelum, of Insomnia.

The bot seemed to adjust its body to one of attention. "_Carry on, Prince Noctis." _That was surprising.

The prince approached the terminal. There wasn't a keypad or keyhole or card scanner. Placing his hand on the Atlesean crest, he pushed against the container in hopes something would happen.

It beeped. A scanner of a sort popped out. _Retinal scan. Required._

_Well, here goes nothing. _Noctis placed his eyes into the space the scanner provided. It beeped of affirmation.

_Welcome, Prince Noctis. She's been expecting you._

The doors whooshed open. It appeared dark at first. The only light available was from the faint glow of the energy modules, undoubtedly powering the chamber. Lights flicked on revealing a white chamber with blue energy coursing through it.

"Noctis?"

Turning around, the prince summoned his Engine Blade. His eyes went wide. Standing before him was a lady with a white dress on with white shoes and the crest of Tenebrae on her bosom.

"L—? Luna?" he asked. Noctis shook his head as if he were dreaming. "You..you can't be..here."

"Noctis, please," Lady Lunafreya approached cautiously.

He pointed his sword toward her. "No." The raven-haired boy backed away slightly. "Tell me something only we would know. What—?" He had to think carefully. "What was the first thing in the book Umbra carries?"

She smiled, seeming nostalgic. "A sylleblossom."

Tears streaked down his face. Noct dropped his sword and the piece of metal vanished. Following that, he crumpled to his knees. Luna rushed to his side and hugged him to her as he cried with tears of joy.

"H-how is it...you're h-here?" he stumbled over his words.

"General Ironwood conspired with Ravus to have me under protection of the Atlesean Military until the war is over."

Noct sighed with relief. "Thank the gods for him."

Picking him back up to his feet, Luna helped him to sit down on the bed. "We've much to discuss."

"Yeah. Tell me about it."

-DH

Hope Estheim walked along the exterior of the Academy. Lightning was still out. To say he didn't feel a little dejected would be an outright lie. It's not that he didn't trust Cloud, for he knew the Soldier through his Semblance. The problem was that he felt that he was stealing Lightning from him.

_Not like she was yours to begin with, Estheim, _he reminded himself ruefully.

Suddenly, he bumped into someone. Struggling to regain his balance, he felt two hands on his shoulders to steady him. He looked from the ground to in front of him to see blonde spikes and blue eyes. _Cloud Strife._

"You okay, Hope? You look like you're in a daze," Cloud checked on the silverette.

Snapping back to reality, Hope shrugged himself free from the Soldier's grasp. "I'm fine," he stated gruffly.

Cloud's eyes glew brighter. _Did he-? _"No, you're not."

"Using a man's Semblance against him. That's cold, Strife."

"I think you've got me all wrong, Estheim. I'm not out to steal your interest."

Feeling slightly foolish, Hope blushed in embarrassment and shame. "You're not?"

Cloud nodded. "Yeah. The only thing that's happened between us is training, friendship, a mutual understanding and assistance in figuring out our feelings for others." Pausing for a moment, Cloud placed his hand on Hope's shoulder, causing the slightly shorter youth to look at him. "Your odds are good, kid."

"Huh?"

Sighing as if exhausted, Cloud elaborated, "Go for it. Ask her. I know she'll say yes."

"You sure about this?" Hope asked.

Cloud nodded. The two remained there looking for doubt and determination. The latter was found over the former.

Hope nodded. "Okay."

Cloud patted him on the back. "Go get her."

"Right!" Hope confirmed and ran off to where Lightning said she'd be.

Cloud shook his head. _Never thought I'd play matchmaker. _His thoughts halted for a moment. _Feels kinda nice, _he finished. _At least on this end._

"Cloud?"

The blonde turned and met amber eyes. Tifa looked really concerned. "What are you doing out here? Shouldn't you be at your dorm?" she asked him.

"I could ask you the same thing," Cloud fires back. She averted her eyes and looked down. "But, I'll settle for a different one." _Strange. Never been known to be the cheeky, sly, coy type. The team must be rubbing off on me._

"What do you mean?" She looked genuinely confused.

_Here goes nothing. She won't know what hit her. _Cloud inhaled deeply and exhaled even longer. "You and I both know I'm no good at this. But, honestly, a friend made me realize what I was missing out on was worth it. More appropriately, who. Who I was missing out on."

"Cloud, you're not making any sense."

"Doyouwannagotothedancewithme?!" He just blurted it out.

Tifa seemed to get the message though, but seemed to not comprehend what he was saying. "What was that? What did you say?"

Cloud forced himself to calm down. Trying once more, he looked her in the eye. "Tifa Lockhart. Will you accept my offer of being your date to the dance this weekend?" _Man when'd I get so formal? Damn you, Ramza._

Tifa's eyes kind of looked like they sparkled. Suddenly, she smiled and flung her arms around him. "Yes! I want you to be my date."

Cloud wrapped his arms around her and smiled, placing his chin atop her head as they embraced. _It's gonna be alright, just like she said. Thanks, Mom._

_-DH_

_"_I heard from the general that you were attending here," Luna explained to Noct. "I requested that he have this chamber set up in the hopes that you would notice."

Noctis shrugged his shoulders. "Kinda hard not to notice." _It actually kinda felt like I was drawn to it, _he thought to himself. "Been trying to figure out the dance this weekend."

Luna put a hand on his shoulder. "How do you mean?"

He sighed. "Don't really have a partner to go with." His eyes widened. _Lightbulb! _"Do you know if the general would let you go to the dance?"

This time _she _sighed. "For security purposes, he's had his personnel follow my every step. As long as we follow that, I'm certain that he would permit us to spend the evening together."

"Great!" Noct exclaimed. "I mean...it would honor me to spend the evening with you."

She smiled and placed a hand on his gloved one. "And I as well, my prince."

-DH

The night of the dance came. Cloud wore a black button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, top button unbuttoned, no tie and accompanied with a vest. Black slacks on his lower body and slick polished black dress shoes. To add to it all, a wolf pin was placed on the left side of his shirt.

Tifa had her arm wrapped around his as they walked. She wore a black and white dress, fading in and out of both colors. On her left ear was a red tear shaped earring. Red high heels were found on her feat.

A man in a sharp suit could be seen fiddling with his bow tie. The man had slicked back, spiky, black hair with a few strands covering the right side of his forehead. A deep blue tux is his wear, with black polished shoes, much like Cloud's. When he laid eyes on Cloud, he called to him, "Hey, Spike!"

Both students turned to the man. Cloud's eyes lit up a bit. "Zack! Heya."

"Lookin' fresh, Cloud! And who's your—wait! This can't be Tifa, can it?" Zack observes the two.

Tifa laughed, clearly flattered by the silent compliment made by the ex-SOLDIER. "You'd be wrong if you said I wasn't."

Zack took her left hand in his right and kissed the knuckle. "It's a pleasure, milady." Cloud looked at him, seeming a little challenging. "What's with the look, man?" He dropped her hand to let her bring it to the side. She blushed a little at the gesture.

The blonde sighs. "Please tell me you brought a date. Don't want you crowding mine."

Tifa felt warm that Cloud classified her as "his date". Zack held up his hands in defense. "I did! But, man she's late. Thought I'd hang with you guys. Originally, I thought you were just gonna be a third wheel for me and Aerith, but looks like she saw an interest in you enough to ask you here."

"Actually—" Tifa started.

"I asked.""He asked." The two said at the same time.

Zack raised his eyebrows. He jumped up high with a grin on his face and started spinning around, whooping. "YEAH!! I _knew, _I _just knew _you had it in you!"

Cloud grimaced a bit and kindly requested he keep his voice down, not wanting a scene.

All of a sudden, a girl in a red dress with a pink bow on top of her hair. The back of her hair cascaded down her back with red ribbons wrapped around the strands. Two thick strands of her hair framed the sides of her face, stopping just shy of her jawline. White heels adorned her feet. Green eyes looked to the three old friends as they talked.

"Zack!" she called.

The raven haired man turned to her. He smiled the biggest smile Cloud had ever seen (and that's saying something) on his face. "Aerith!" He took off running to her. He hugged her around the waist and spun her around after picking her up. She giggled with glee as he did so. Cloud and Tifa laughed rather openly at the scene in front of them.

When he set her down he kissed her right on the lips. She submitted, but eventually pushed him away. "Zack!" she scolded. "Not in public!"

Zack's face looked a little mopey. "Well, if I want people to know that you're taken and I'm yours, I wanna show them so."

Aerith crosses her arms and frowned. Eventually after a bit of pouting from Zack, she laughed and uncrossed her arms and wrapped them around his neck. "Oh, alright!" She kissed him on his scarred cheek.

"Ahem." Cloud cleared his throat.

Zack and Aerith turned to the couple. "Oh, yeah! You haven't met yet. Cloud, Tifa, this is my girlfriend Aerith Gainsborough. Aerith, this is Cloud Strife, the Soldier, and my best friend, and his girlfriend, Tifa Lockhart."

Cloud and Tifa turned beat red. And stumbled over each other's words, saying that they weren't there.

Zack scoffed and said, "Sure you aren't."

Aerith elbowed his ribs. "Be nice. If they're not ready they're not." She turned back to the other two. "It's very nice to meet you. Especially you, Cloud. Zack's told me a bunch about you. He says you look up to him, but nearly as much as he does you."

Zack chuckled nervously. With his unoccupied hand, Cloud placed it at his hip and said, "Oh, really?", cocking an eyebrow. _Gonna have to industrialize on that, _he thought mischievously.

Tifa nodded her head and smiled at the brunette in front of her. "And you as well. It's very nice to see someone that's able to keep Zack in check." A "hey" could be heard from the ex-SOLDIER. "He's like an older brother to me."

"Aw, thanks," both of them said.

Cloud cleared his throat again. "Really hate to break this up, but shouldn't we be _inside _the ballroom...at the dance?"

Zack looked as if he'd just remembered what they really came here for. "Right!" He offered his arm to Aerith. "Shall we?"

Aerith giggled and latched her arm around his. "Sure!" The two walked into the ballroom with bright smiles on their faces.

Cloud and Tifa shrugged simultaneously. "You're not gonna make me say anything corny to ask you to enter with me are you?"

Tifa playfully patted his shoulder. "Of course not. Let's go!"

The blonde nodded.

-DH

The whole event was going fairly well. Weiss and Yang has done a phenomenal job setting everything up. Sad, though it was that Neptune had bailed on her, the heiress couldn't help to feel happy that this event had brought smiles to her friends' faces. Even Cloud and Blake were having a good time.

Tidus and Yuna were manning the music upstairs. Cloud and Tifa were dancing with the most minimal awkwardness seen with the two. Ramza was doing well enough overseeing refreshments at the "bar". Squall and Rinoa were dancing as well. Hope and Lightning were dancing and _laughing _while going through the motions and talking. No one had seen Noctis yet. Ruby was still adjusting to the "killer heels" she wore. Juane looked mopey. He and Pyrrha anyway. They both came alone. Nora was having a great time with Ren, who merely stood and listened to her rave. Prompto was chatting it up with a girl from the general's army (guess who). Three boys with sliver hair and cat-like eyes stood on the over head and looked at them all below. Purple haired man, adorned in a purple suit and tie watched the sky outside. A brunette was looking like a third wheel with a blonde guy and his pink-haired girlfriend. A pink-haired girl was looking as though she were praying to the sky.

Yang looked up to see a couple walking toward the stairs leading to the dance floor. One of them wore a black suit with a black button up with the top unbuttoned. His date wore an elegant white dress. Around her neck hung a moon shaped charm. She recognized them both. It was—

"Ladies and gents," Yang said into a microphone that she somehow found her way to. Tidus and Yuna killed the music for the blonde brawler. "Joining us tonight at the dance celebrating the annual Vytal Festival, is none other than the crown prince of the kingdom of Lucis, Prince Noctis Lucis Caelum, and his date Lady Lunafreya of Tenebrae. Let's hear it for the royals, people."

The whole ballroom erupted with applause, cheers, and whistles. Noct looked a little shocked that this was happening. "Wow."

Luna chuckle slightly and led him to the dance floor. "May I have this dance, Your Highness?" she asked as she bent down to show respect.

He smiled. "Of course, milady." She stood back up after he curtsied. The music resumed and the dancing continued. All throughout the night, the ballroom was filled with smiles and laughs and dance and music.

One of the main highlights of the evening was Jaune Arc in...a dress. At some point, he said that if Pyrrha hadn't come to the dance with a date, that he'd wear a dress. That eventually broke out into Team JNPR group dancing to the music. Cheers and whoops were sounded through out the whole crowd.

Team NVSS (Nerves) took it next, led by Noel Kreiss. His teammates, Oerba de Vanille, Serah Farron, and Snow Villiers followed him through the dance.

Team SSSN performed their own routine. Next came SPTR. CNTR was selected for the next one. Tidus flipped down to join his teammates. Cloud could dance very well (Andrea of all people was impressed), but that stop his nerves. His teammates fell in line behind him. Yuna called for Zack to come up and sing a song for his best friend's team.

The song began. _Here we go... _all four thought.

_Hey brother! There's an endless road to rediscover_

_Hey sister! Know that water's sweet, but blood is thicker_

_Oh, if the sky comes falling down, for you_

_There's nothing in this world I wouldn't do_

_Hey brother! Do you still believe in one another?_

_Hey sister! Do you still believe in love? I wonder_

_Oh, if the sky comes falling down, for you_

_There's nothing in this world I wouldn't do_

_What if I'm far from home?_

_Oh brother I will hear you call_

_What if I lose it all?_

_Oh sister I will help you out_

_Oh, if the sky comes falling down, for you_

_There's nothing in this world I wouldn't do_

The music broke out into a string of muscal notes. The four followed simultaneously with the beat of the music. Soon the lyrics returned.

_Hey brother! There's an endless road to rediscover._

_Hey sister! Do you still believe in love? I wonder_

_Oh, if the sky comes falling down, for you_

_There's nothing in the world I wouldn't do_

_What if I'm far from home?_

_Oh brother I will help you out_

_What if I lose it all?_

_Oh sister I will help you out_

_Oh, if the sky comes falling down, for you_

_There's nothing in this world I wouldn't do_

The lyrics ceased again and the quartet danced drastically building up to the big finished. The whole crowd broke out in a giant roar of applause for Team CNTR's performance.

The four returned to their previous posts after sounding off their team name and cheering with the crowd. Before Cloud got back to Tifa though, something flashed into his mind. A pain.

_Hey Brother, indeed._

"Cloud?" Tifa asked grabbing his arm carefully.

The blonde opened his eyes and refocused himself to see Tifa. "Something's wrong. I gotta go." He was about to take off to look for the source of his head pain. Feeling guilty, he sighed. He turned back around and ran back to Tifa. "This seems selfish of me, but will you come with me?"

She smiled and nodded. "Yes. I will go with you." Cloud used Ruby's speed to swiftly drop her off at her dorm to change into her combat gear and for him to do the same at his.

Once ready, they met back at the ballroom entrance. "Ready?" Cloud asked.

Tifa nodded. "You said something about the communications tower from when we went to find answers?"

"Yeah. I felt it coming from there."

"Then, let's go."

"Go where, exactly?" a voice of high authority asked the two.

The two turned to see General Ironwood. Cloud sighed with relief. "General, you don't know me, but-"

"I'm well aware of you are from Zack, Cloud Strife. He told me all about you. He trusts you. I feel that I must as well. What is going on?" The man asked Cloud.

Tifa spoke up. "Cloud sensed a presence from the communications tower and we were gonna go check it out. We think we saw Ruby Rose head there as well."

Cloud's exploded into another searing pain. Visions came to him. A white maiden dressed in a black robe. Veins of black coursing through her. Red eyes with black where white should be. Amber eyes with a fire unlike any other. All veiled in malice. Two words repeated themselves into his mind.

"Mai...den..."

"Cloud? Are you okay?"

"Fall..."

"Mr. Strife!"

"Fall...Maiden?" he asked confused. Cloud looked up to the tower. Another vision showed a girl in a dress and wielding a scythe combatting with a woman in black. One with extreme power. Unlike even _his _power. His eyes shot open upon recognizing the girl's eyes. Her silver eyes. "Ruby!"

He took off running.

"Wait! Cloud!"

"Soldier!" The general and Tifa sprinted after him.

_Don't let me be too late, _Cloud prayed.

TBC


	7. Past to Present

Cloud entered the communications tower with his First Tsurugi and secondary weapon in both hands. Something seemed wrong. The guards were all incapacitated, but not dead.

"Damn!" the general cursed when he saw the scene before him. He checked their pulses and sighed with relief. "We have to hurry up. We'll take the elevator."

Cloud merely ignited blue and prepped a jump. "By that time it'll be too late." Tifa hopped on his back. The blonde pushed off the ground with supreme upward motion. They effectively destroyed the upper level floor and landed smoothly on the top level.

They saw Ruby contending with a masked woman in black, with swords in the shape of a bow, some kind of flame power and glass. Thinking they had the upper hand, Cloud and Tifa jumped to hit the woman in the back. Something about her hairstyle looked...familiar.

Said woman whirled around and parried their strikes with her second sword after detaching them. Cloud landed on his feet and fused his blades together. Tifa recovered with a roll backwards.

"Cloud! Tifa!" Ruby exclaimed in surprise and gratitude.

The elevator dinged and the general stepped out. The woman attempted to slip out unnoticed, but Cloud leapt into action.

Just as his blade was about to crash against her body, a bullet whizzed at his blade, knocking him and his sword off its trajectory. The woman vanished. All heads turned to the glass window. A bullet hole was made in the window.

_A sniper. Shit, _Cloud thought.

"Are you all alright?" Ironwood asked the three.

Tifa answered, "Uh-huh."

"Just bruised feet from fighting in these heels," Ruby complained about her footwear for the fifth time that evening.

Cloud merely grunted and sheathed his sword.

"Good. You will need to remain here to have statements taken by the authorities as to what happened."

The two girls groaned. Cloud merely opted to rest himself against the wall, standing up, with his arms crossed and his eyes closed. "Oh, well."

Tifa just sat next to him, against the wall as well. "Man and it was a good night, too."

Cloud opened his eyes. "You...had a good time?"

"Of course. Didn't you?" Tifa asked.

"Y-yeah. It's just...I've never dated at all, so..." He left the sentence open.

Tifa just giggled. "You were fine. I had a wonderful time with you. Stop worrying so much."

Ruby chimed in. "She's right, Cloud. She was smiling the whole time before...all this. I actually think I saw you smile. Laugh even."

Cloud went pink at his ears at the notion. He said nothing merely returned to his thoughts. He actually seemed to seem at peace. "Yeah...Maybe..."

The following day, the three were called to Ozpin's office. The general and Goodwitch were attending this meeting as well. The ride up the elevator was very annoying for Cloud, given his motion sickness. This was not because of having to go up every floor to get tot the top. It was because, suspiciously enough, someone hit all the buttons for every. Single. Floor. It was constantly starting up and stopping.

_Can't be a good sign for the day, _Cloud thought. This was a very bad sign for the day, being as it was each team's first day to take on an actual hunt as soon-to-be huntsmen and huntresses.

At the meeting, the three of them recounted the encounter at the communications tower that previous night. Turns out, Goodwitch and Ruby has encountered the woman before.

_Not just a one-time crook, _Tifa noted mentally.

After everything was discussed, the three were asked to keep the contents of the meeting quiet, especially from anyone close to them. They agreed. With words. Ah, who are they kidding?

Ruby walked slowly behind the two older students. "Hey..guys?"

The two turned around. "What is it?" Tifa asked.

"Thanks for coming to save me. Even though we're not close or anything."

"Don't mention it," Cloud said. "And you're wrong about that."

Ruby looked up puzzled. "Huh?"

Placing his left hand on her right shoulder, Cloud explained to the silver-eyed girl, "Remember that massive food fight in the cafeteria?" A nod came from the scythe wielder. "To be honest, that's the most fun I've had in a while. It was also a pleasure to work with you and your team."

Tifa beamed. "Yup. You guys were incredible. Practically in sync."

Ruby grinned ear to ear. "It was! I never got to say it that night, but...I'm glad you guys came with us to ambush the White Fang."

Cloud smiled a small, but real smile. He patted the auburn hair on Ruby's head gently. "Anytime kid."

She laughed a little. "It's funny. My uncle always said that to me. Especially when I was in trouble."

"Qrow, right?" Cloud asked.

"Yeah? How'd you know?"

Cloud placed his hand on his hip. "He was my personal mentor at Signal."

"Really? But he only mentored a guy with a big swo-" Ruby stopped herself. Her eyes went to the size of saucers. "THAT WAS YOU?!"

A simple nod was her answer.

"OH. MY. GOSH!! Besides me, he said you were his best student!"

Cloud flushed a light pink. "Might've exaggerated a bit on that one."

"Trust me when he compliments, he means it."

Cloud crossed his arms and said, "If you say so. Anyway, shouldn't we head back to our teams?"

"Oh, yeah," Ruby said, suddenly remembering where they were. "See you guys later. Bye!" With that she sped off to her dorm room.

"Bundle of energy, isn't she?" Tifa asked.

"Uh-Huh." The two continued to their dorms, which happened to be next door to each other.

"So. You never said you were that good."

Cloud shrugs. "Prefer not to show off."

Tifa laced her fingers behind her back. "Gonna tell your team what happened?"

"Hell, yes. What kinda leader would I be if I kept secrets from them?"

"Or teammate for that matter," Tifa added.

Cloud clicked his tongue and pointed at her. "My thoughts exactly."

"First mission." She shuddered. "You nervous?"

"Nope." It was a quick response, but Tifa knew him better than that. She quirked an eyebrow. Cloud averted his gaze to look forward. "Little bit."

Pulling ahead slightly and walking backwards to face him, Tifa giggled. "It'll be fine. We're just shadowing huntsmen is all."

"Yeah, I know." Cloud thought for a moment. "Remember the last time we worked with a Huntsman before?"

"Like it was yesterday," Tifa responded.

_FLASH*_

It was still during Cloud's years at Signal. Not only was he a student and a reigning champ at some colosseums and dojos, but he was a merc. Especially around Midgar. For almost a year, he worked with Tifa's friend Barret. He was the head of the eco-extremist group Avalanche.

Their main purpose was to oppose Shin-Ra. The problem with Shin-Ra was that it was using Mako energy—the lifeblood of the Planet—to fuel the entire city and world. Sooner or later, the world would end. This gave birth to superpowered Grimm. The only thing that Huntsmen and Huntresses could help the problem was to take out the Grimm.

Sadly, even they were taking advantage of Shin-Ra's carelessness. This enabled them to score insane amounts of Lien. This left only Avalanche. Barret himself was a licensed Huntsman, one that went by his own rules. Armed, literally, with a gun arm, the dark skinned tank of a man waged war against Shin-Ra. His reasons were his own.

One man can't fight a war alone, so he had Tifa and three others in his "cell" working with him. The other three were named Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie. Cloud was the final piece of the puzzle. While he wasn't officially Avalanche, he was hired on their jobs. There was constant disputes between the Soldier and the gunman. Overtime, though, they grew closer.

His first job for them was a bombing of Mako Reactor 1. After a successful detonation, Cloud began to grow closer to the other members of Avalanche. Most of the reasons as to why he did cake from the fact he only really knew Tifa. Biggs and he were always able to get along just fine. Wedge was an okay guy, but got on Cloud's nerves for calling him "bro" all the time. Being an only child, the mercenary was uncomfortable for being called that. Jessie. She was...difficult. She was by far the most pushy of the three in terms of getting him to officially join Avalanche. Not just that, but she was constantly flirty towards Cloud. He mostly shrugged her off, but still considered her somewhat a friend alongside the other two.

After an accident, Jessie was unable to do the next bomb run, so Barret hired Cloud again. That time it was Mako Reactor 5. During a fight with Shin-Ra's newest mech, Airbuster, Cloud fell into the Sector 5 slums. When he woke up, he woke in a church, on top of a flowerbed and he saw a face he didn't expect to see. It was Zack. After they got back from Mangerie, the two went their separate ways. The two were mercs in their own right. Cloud in Sector 7 and Zack in Sector 5. Not expecting to see his friend again, Zack helped the blonde back to Sector 7. On the way, Cloud explained his recent employment. Given their hatred for Shin-Ra, being as they hunted them since they got back to Midgar, Zack wanted in.

Sadly, Jessie died in an op to protect the Sector 7 plate. Turns out, Shin-Ra was the ones who caused extreme destruction to their own Reactors by blowing them up, making it look like Avalanche did it when they just bombed the main control units to disable the reactors. Having had enough of Avalanche's interference with their intentions of "selling war to the people", Shin-Ra planned to drop the Sector 7 plate on the slums below, killing not only the residents living there, but the people living on top of the plate.

Cloud, Tifa, Zack, and Barret tried to stop it, but the Turks—a group of suits with just about any authorization to do Shin-Ra's dirty work—intercepted and dropped it. The four made it out safe. However, many residents died. Barret's daughter somehow got out with the help of Zack's girlfriend. Shin-Ra was interested in her, who turned out to be an Ancient. Zack broke her out with the help of Cloud, Tifa and Barret distracting Shin-Ra's efforts. They sent an ally that resembled a dog and a cat in one, proclaiming himself as a "lab rat dog". His name was Red XIII. When they reached their destination for extraction from the Shin-Ra building, they saw a sight that appalled them, even though he was their enemy.

President Shinra...was dead. A hole in his chest. From a thin sword. It was an assassination. Whoever killed him left no evidence. Barret got on a camera in the Shin-Ra building and told the people what Shin-Ra was really planning. On top of that, they also said that a supposed SOLDIER killed President Shinra. Strangely enough, the group was able to strike an alliance between Avalanche and the late-President's son, Rufus.

The Turks were held responsible for their actions and served under Huntsmen and Huntresses for recompense. The reactors were shut down worldwide. A Shin-Ra executive, Reeve Tuesti, headed an organization to work with Shin-Ra to reconstruct Midgar and continue to improve living conditions.

For nearly a year, Cloud worked with Barret to sort out the problems in Midgar and throughout the world to help them adjust to life without Mako as an energy source. They even built a new place for Barret and Biggs, who was the only of the three others to survive, to reopen their old bar, Seventh Heaven, in a town called Edge.

Cloud went off to finish his years at Signal. As he did, he, Barret, and Tifa, even Zack sometimes, would help him find competitions to compete in.

This helped establish his name to the public as the ex-merc, Cloud Strife, the Soldier.

_FLASH*_

"It felt good. Got a friend out of it, too. Another as well," Cloud admitted. "Haven't been back there for awhile. Since the memorial." Among the people who died from Avalanche and the slums and the plate collapse, Wedge was found dead. Apparently, he had fallen out of the Shin-Ra building the night of the President's assassination. Many rumors spread that he was a hero, that he ended Shinra's tyranny, given he was present when it supposedly happened.

"Yeah, I know. I was thinking of maybe asking my team to take on a mission there, so we could visit Seventh Heaven and the others," Tifa mentioned.

Cloud hummed. They stopped just in front of Team SPTR's door. "Sounds like a good idea. The others said they want to learn more about my past. This would be a good opportunity."

Tifa got a twinkle in her eye. "Maybe we can meet up. Anyway, I'll maybe see you in a few hours."

"Right." Cloud turned and started to head to his dorm. He felt a tug on his arm.

Tifa grabbed his left wrist and leaned in to give him a peck on the cheek. He blushed at the intimate contact. Red tinged her cheeks. "I meant what I said last night. I had a good time."

Cloud smiled. "Yeah. Me, too."

Tifa grinned. She turned back around and opened the door. "Bye," she said to him before stepping into the room.

"See ya, Teef." Cloud walked back to his dorm.

When he opened the door his team immediately grabbed him and hauled him inside and set him in a chair.

"How'd it go?" Noct asked.

"Did you get expelled?" Tidus questioned dumbly.

"What did they want?" Ramza asked sagely.

Cloud smirked.

_A/N: Apologies for my absence. Writer's block and Remake's release was an easy way to attract my attention. I have not abandoned my fics. I was actually given an idea for another fic. Just like me, plenty of my friends have said how they wished Cloud had siblings. One of them said how he and Lightning from FFXIII were very similar. Almost as if they'd be a good fit for brother and sister as well. Might do something with that. Let me know if you support it._


End file.
